


The Legendary Princes of Seren and Neoma

by jantotrash



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Book 5: Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, Fluff, Inspired by Princess Bride, M/M, Number Twelve Grimmauld Place, some pretend angst but that’s it; pretty much just fluff here
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-23
Updated: 2020-03-23
Packaged: 2021-02-28 20:42:07
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,853
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23273407
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/jantotrash/pseuds/jantotrash
Summary: Remus had a tough night. Sirius tells him a story about the legendary princes of Seren and Neoma, who are oddly familiar.
Relationships: Sirius Black/Remus Lupin
Kudos: 21





	The Legendary Princes of Seren and Neoma

It had been a tough moon night. Although Sirius was not a medical professional, he deemed that Remus should stay in bed for at least the morning and most of the afternoon.

So there he lay in a bed in Grimmauld Place when Sirius came through the door with a suspicious grin on his face.

“I’m going to tell you a story.” Sirius said. Remus sighed.

“What’s it about?”

“Two kingdoms, far away and long ago in like the 1700s.” Sirius said, gesturing widely. 

"This is just like the Princess Bride, isn't it?" Remus said with a sigh.

\--

_Long ago, there was a kingdom named Neoma. The king and queen of Neoma were generally just and reasonably fair. They had one child, a prince named Remus._

"Let me guess. The king and queen were called Lyall and Hope." Remus said sarcastically.

"Shhhh. Spoilers." Sirius cleared his throat and continued.

_Remus' parents, Lyall and Hope--_

Remus chuckled.

_\--were perhaps a bit too overprotective of their only child. But Remus loved them, as they loved him. As the future king, Remus was taught everything there was to know about ruling. Except for an important factor: diplomacy._

_Neoma hadn't been involved in a war or even a scuffle in at least two hundred years, so there hadn't been much of a chance for Remus to learn those skills. But this may have been about to change._

_The kingdom two countries over, Seren, was quite the opposite from Neoma. It seemed to the rest of the world that its mission was to conquer using any means possible. They fought first and talked after._

_Lyall, the king, was determined to prevent a war. Their country was not prepared for any sort of conflict-- as a peaceful country, they barely even had an army. So he invited Seren's leadership to Neoma for a discussion._

_That is how Remus found himself standing to the left of his mother's throne, watching the negotiation take place. His mother had told him a bit about Seren the other night, or rather all she knew. She'd traveled more than his father had._

_Seren had both a king and a queen, Orion and Walburga. Rumor said that Walburga was the one who commanded the kingdom, influencing her husband in many ways. Unfortunately for surrounding territories, this often included a vision of war. They had two children, both boys. Remus' mother hadn't remembered their names._

_Walburga had made the trip to Neoma without her husband but with, presumably, one of her children. She hadn't bothered to introduce them before launching into a tirade directed at Remus' father. Perhaps she wanted to show them how negotiation was done too, Remus thought._

_If so, she wasn't accomplishing that goal. The boy looked very distracted, which was distracting Remus. It might've had something to do with the way he looked. He--_

"Uh…okay, I can't describe myself. Can you do it?" Sirius asked.

Remus chuckled before considering for a minute, staring right at Sirius.

“He had darker hair than Remus did, but it wasn’t black. He was only a little shorter than Remus was, and he held himself in a dignified yet annoyed-at-the-world manner. It seemed he was too young to start growing facial hair too, so Remus estimated they were around the same age. He had striking good looks.”

“Okay, thanks.” Sirius said sheepishly. 

_As the boy looked around the room, his eyes settled on Remus, who was rather openly staring at him. After establishing eye contact, the boy winked._

_Caught off guard, Remus blinked at him, not knowing what to do. The boy smiled slightly, quickly looking away. Remus did too, returning to the conversation taking place in the meantime. But that only lasted a couple seconds-- the way Walburga was speaking to his parents was rather infuriating and Remus knew he shouldn't get involved for everyone’s sake. So he trained his eyes on the boy again._

_The boy seemed to have a similar idea, because when he caught Remus' eyes this time, he rolled his eyes before quickly flicking them toward Walburga, raising his eyebrows. Remus gave him a shy smile, flicking his eyes to the side and nodding slightly. The boy's face lit up at his response, his mouth twisting into a half-smile-- which was probably as much as he could get away with in present company. It seemed to Remus that if given the chance, the boy would've smiled as much as his face could. Perhaps Walburga's son wasn't pleased with her either._

_Remus' mother nudged him with her elbow, beckoning him to mentally return to the conversation. He gave the boy a silent apology before looking back toward Walburga._

_"It seems Seren is suffering on many fronts, particularly hunger. I would be willing to open trade with Seren if, in turn, the kingdom would sign a peace declaration. With, of course, the intention to keep the peace." Remus' father said calmly._

_Walburga sighed deeply. "Perhaps."_

_"We have food to spare in our storehouses, which we will willingly trade. All we ask is peace."_

_The boy spoke for the first time. "Mother, our people are hungry." His voice was--_

Sirius looked to Remus.

"Light, but not necessarily airy. Deep, but not gravelly. Nearly indescribable."

_Remus' attention was once again drawn to him. He wasn't on Walburga's side at all, and quite openly so. From what Remus knew about the kingdom, this was rather unusual._

_"Fine. We accept." Walburga said at last. The boy broke into a grin._

_"Wonderful! Tonight we celebrate!" Remus' father exclaimed. With that, the boys went their separate ways with their mothers-- hopefully only temporarily._

_"You seemed distracted." Remus' mother said as they walked through the halls toward their rooms. Once a celebration had been called, they all needed to change into different attire. "By that boy?"_

_Remus smiled at the thought of him. "My apologies, mother. He seemed nice."_

_"Well, you don't have the opportunity to make friends often. He seemed rather strong-willed to me. Not inclined to listen to Walburga. A rare trait in that kingdom." His mother smiled slightly._

_"I noticed that too. Perhaps friendship is what our kingdoms need. I would say Walburga is a lost cause, but her son may not be.”_

_“Hm, perhaps. It wouldn’t hurt to try.”_

_They went their separate ways for now—his mother to be dressed by her servants and Remus to dress himself. He preferred it that way for several reasons._

_Although it seemed like forever, it was only about two hours before the fanfare beckoned the parties to the celebration. Remus set his book down, which he had rather unsuccessfully been trying to read (he kept thinking of the boy), and hastened down the stairs._

“Hastened down the stairs?”

“You’re a prince, honey. Princes hasten.”

Remus laughed at that. “Fine. Go on.”

_They got through the normal pre-feast rituals and were led to their seats. Remus’ mother and father were sat at the head of the table and Walburga joined them at that end. He was seated a bit further down the table, since in this case there were several advisors that needed to be present near the royalty. His heart jumped into his stomach when a servant led the boy from earlier to sit down directly across from him._

_It quickly got far too loud for conversation, however. So they began to eat, stealing glances at each other and catching one another’s eyes. At one point, they stared at each other for over a minute while they both ate. Eventually, they both broke into laughter._

_The food was quite delicious but all Remus wanted to do was to get through the dinner and meet this boy. He stole another glance and their eyes met again. This time, the boy mimed for him to pass the potatoes. Remus smiled, picking up the bowl and handing it to him. In accepting it, their fingers touched, the boy’s laying gently on Remus’. Their eyes met yet again. Both had wide eyes and Remus was most certainly blushing. Remus didn’t particularly want to let go, but people would take notice. So he let go and turned his eyes away from the boy, flipping his attention to the royals further down the table._

_All seemed to be going alright, at least as far as he could tell. His father caught his eye and winked, which Remus took as a good sign._

_It was only a few more minutes before the feast ended and they were released to the party. Initially, Remus was ushered away in a separate direction than the boy. So, unfortunately, they would have to find one another again._

_It took several minutes of wandering for Remus to spot him. He was leaning casually against a wall, observing the party from afar. Remus approached, although his heart felt like it was beating out of his chest._

_“Oh good,” the boy said once Remus was in earshot, “you found me.” He flashed a smile at Remus. “My name is Sirius Black, prince of Seren.”_

_“I am Remus Lupin, prince of Neoma. I am glad to know your name at last, Prince Sirius.”_

_Prince Sirius waved his hand in a dismissing motion. “Please, just Sirius will do. We are the same rank, after all. But I appreciate your manners. May I call you Remus?”_

_“Yes, of course. Come, let me take you somewhere away from the noise.”_

_“I would like that very much.”_

_Remus led him into his music practice room just a few rooms down from the banquet hall. They could still hear everything, but it was much quieter._

_“Ah, that is much better. I don't think I've heard properly in hours.” Sirius commented._

_“Neither do I. Please, sit.” Sirius proceeded to sit down on the sofa. Unfortunately, or perhaps fortunately, there really wasn't anywhere else to sit except for next to him. Remus arranged his body in the most dignified way possible to match Sirius' posture._

_Sirius took a long look up and down Remus. Neither seemed ready to break the silence quite yet._

_Sirius spoke first. "Well, I must confess that I don't know quite where to begin."_

_"How about politics? I don't know much about the kingdom of Seren beyond what my mother has shared with me. I would be interested in knowing more about where you come from."_

_"There isn't much of interest in Seren. I, of course, am King Orion and Queen Walburga's son. I am the eldest--my younger brother is called Regulus. We spend much of our time cooped up in the palace, particularly because our people do not think highly of us."_

_"Why not?"_

_"War rips a kingdom apart. The people have no further interest in war, particularly the needless ones my mother enjoys becoming involved in. I do not blame them. I know how hunger feels and I know they are hungry. All our resources go to war these days. We all yearn for peace." Sirius said strongly._

_"How do you, a prince, know hunger? I do not mean to be insulting, but I am merely curious." Remus immediately regretted the question when he saw Sirius' face become immediately defensive._

_"Ah, you are observant. I did not plan to share this much, but…I somehow trust you." They stared into each other's eyes for a few seconds. Sirius' eyes were dazzlingly grey--_

_"My mother and father do not often agree with my point of view." Sirius continued. "Particularly my mother. There have been times where I have not eaten for days--often, not until I pretend to concede to her. She treats everything like war. Even interacting with her own children."_

_Remus' shock must've been evident on his face, because--_

"Wait, love. Did that ever happen to you?"

Sirius was quiet for a while, in real life this time, before replying. "Yes. It did."

Remus drew him into a tight hug. "Merlin's beard. I had no idea. You poor soul." A few tears spilled out of Sirius although he didn’t mean for them to.

"I'm okay."

"How could you be okay? After what she did to you? And now you're living in her house again! This must be torture for you."

"I have you. That makes it okay."

Remus kissed him gently. "Oh, love. Okay, continue."

"Are you actually enjoying it?"

"Surprisingly, yes. Or, rather, unsurprisingly. I already knew you were an excellent storyteller."

Sirius' face lit up with pride.

_Remus' shock must've been evident on his face, because Sirius turned away, breaking his eye contact. Remus took a risk and grabbed Sirius' wrist._

_"I'm so sorry. You poor soul. How can you stand to live with her?"_

_"I'm her firstborn son. I cannot leave. I am destined to rule. However much she despises me sometimes, she knows that. In her mind, she is trying to make me a fit ruler."_

_"I think you would be a wonderful ruler._

Without a word, Sirius invited Remus to finish the string of dialogue.

"You are kind, considerate, and thoughtful. You consider the needs of your citizens far more than your mother seems to. You have already influenced her in a positive manner today. And I think you could convince me of anything."

_"Thank you."_

_"She shouldn't treat you like that."_

_"I am powerless to stop her."_

_Silence fell again._

_"I am glad I am here. I have always wanted to visit Neoma." Sirius changed the subject._

_"I am glad you are here too. I'm afraid Neoma isn't all that exciting, however. Although, to be fair, we do focus on the arts and sciences more than most kingdoms. We have made many discoveries here. But I am not responsible for any of those. I am often stuck in the palace."_

_"This palace seems an awful lot nicer than Seren's."_

_Their conversation continued into the night until they heard the noise from the banquet hall quickly diminishing. They took that as their cue to rejoin the festivities._

_"Ah, Remus, there you are. Where have you been?" His mother asked lightly as the pair re-entered the hall._

_"I was just showing Prince Sirius my music room, mother. He plays lute as well."_

_"Is that so? Well, Prince Sirius, how are you enjoying Neoma?"_

_"It has treated me impeccably thus far."_

_"Oh, forgive me. Prince Sirius, this is my mother, Queen Hope." Remus said at once, realizing they had not been properly introduced. Sirius bowed at once._

_"It is a pleasure to officially make your acquaintance."_

_Hope laughed. "You are a charming young man! You will make a princess very happy one day."_

_Sirius smiled at that remark, but he seemed a little tenser. Perhaps it was Remus' mother's remark, but perhaps it was the fact that Walburga was approaching. Remus inclined his head to indicate to his mother that the other queen was approaching. She shot him a meaningful glance._

_"Sirius. Where have you been?" Walburga asked sharply, shooting daggers at Sirius._

_"I was showing Prince Sirius my music room. He plays the lute beautifully." Remus said, resisting the urge to physically step between them. Walburga turned her attention to him._

_"I taught him the lute. I taught him everything he knows, in fact. Now, who are you, boy?"_

_Remus' mother stepped in. "Queen Walburga, this is my son, Prince Remus. I would love to hear your son play the lute sometime. I, myself, have never been able to play much more than a few notes, but I love to hear it played." Remus narrowed his eyebrows. That was a lie. His mother had taught him to play the lute. She was one of the best players he'd ever met._

_"Ah, is that so? Well, perhaps we can arrange it."_

_"Perhaps so. Come, let me show you the stained glass before we retire. It looks simply gorgeous in the moonlight." Hope said, leading Walburga away. She rolled her eyes at Remus when Walburga had her back turned and Remus had to fight hard to stifle a laugh._

_"My mother has been playing the lute since childhood and has composed several popular melodies." Remus whispered into Sirius' ear. He looked back with shock._

_"Why did she lie?" he whispered back._

_"She likes you and thinks your mother is being awful to you. She wanted to protect you, I think."_

_Sirius looked like he had been moved to near-tears._

_"I--don't know what to say."_

_"You don't have to say a thing. We are going to protect you while you are here." Remus replied, much fiercer than he thought he'd ever been._

_"Thank you."_

_Remus smiled broadly at his new friend, who smiled back in turn._

_\--_

_Remus couldn't sleep._

_Sirius' situation was haunting him. It was difficult to think of anything else. Remus didn't know what he could do, particularly in the two days they had left together._

_He was such a wonderful person despite his abhorrent mother. But how could Remus help? Although his mother seemed to be on his side, he was still only a prince._

_He had a sudden epiphany. A plan that could work._

_Two days to make it come together._

_\--_

_Remus spent much of the next two days with Sirius. It wasn't quite time to put his plan into action yet. But there were still beginning preparations._

_A quick conversation switch to the politics of peace as his father walked by, a discussion about culture as his mother strolled next to them in the gardens, and musings about when war is necessary (which is, of course, nearly all the time) as Walburga stormed past them._

_Needless to say, Sirius was beginning to show some signs of confusion. Remus assured him that he had a plan._

_The night before the visiting royals were set to leave, Remus knocked on the door to his father's study._

_"Come in." Lyall said from within the room. "Ah, Remus. Sit." he said once Remus made his presence known._

_"Tell me, how are you finding our visitors?" he inquired._

_"I am glad you convinced Walburga that peace was a good option in this case, father. She does not seem like a person we want as an enemy." Remus said truthfully. His father laughed._

_"I concur. And what of her son?"_

_"Well, he is what I came to discuss. You see, we are getting along so well, father. It has been so nice to have someone my age--a friend--here in the palace. And he brings such an interesting perspective. I was thinking that perhaps he could stay here. He could tell me of Seren and be their spokesperson. Inform policy and such."_

_"I am not altogether opposed to the idea, but tell me: how do you plan on making this concept attractive to Walburga?"_

_"I think it could work if Prince Sirius tells his mother that he'd like to stay to make sure we are upholding our end of the bargain. Not that he truly mistrusts us, of course. But he doesn't wish to return with her."_

_"I understand. Your mother has been telling me of how Walburga does not seem to be the kindest of parents."_

_"She isn't. Please, father?"_

_"You have my blessing. I wish you luck, son."_

_Remus grinned widely, thanking his father profusely. He ran off to tell Sirius the plan._

_\--_

_"You want me to tell my mother WHAT?" Sirius hissed. His mother was just in the other room._

_"That you want to stay to make sure we don't break our treaty. You're the voice on the inside. Listen, my father agreed to let you stay here. All we need to do now is convince your mother and you can stay here with me."_

_"Are you serious?"_

"No, you are." Remus cut in. They both laughed.

_"It could work, I suppose. We'd be playing to her innate distrust of anything and everything. But really, you want me to stay?" Sirius continued._

_"I need you to stay. The last few days have been heaven. You are incredible. I want to get to know you without your mother breathing down your neck." Remus said._

_"Okay." Sirius took a deep breath. "Wish me luck."_

_"You don't need luck. You will be brilliant. Go!" Remus all but pushed him out the door. He went to go wait across the hall just in case something went terribly wrong._

_He couldn't hear the conversation, which he supposed was a good sign. No one was shouting, at least._

_It was only a few minutes before Sirius emerged, shutting the heavy wooden door behind him. Without noticing Remus across the way, he walked into his own room. Remus snuck over to join him._

_Sirius slammed into him with a hug the minute he saw Remus._

_“Thank you.” He whispered._

_“I take it it went well?” Remus asked, hugging back. His stomach felt oddly knotted._

_“I get to stay with you. I have never been so excited for anything in my life.”_

_Remus considered for a moment._

_“Neither have I.”_

Remus was beaming. Tears glistened in his eyes.

Sirius gave him a hug. 

—

_The weeks since Sirius had been living in Neoma quickly turned into months. It was such a beautiful, peaceful place. Being without his mother was freeing in a way he had never imagined. The king and queen were much kinder and seemed to think of him as a second son. And then there was Remus._

_Sirius currently devoted nearly every waking moment to him. Thinking about him, being with him, fawning over him…_

_Sometimes the feelings he felt were so strong that they overwhelmed him. Was this what he was supposed to feel towards princesses? If so, he saw the appeal. But he had met his share of princesses and none had piqued his interest like Remus had._

_It was becoming increasingly common for Sirius to catch himself thinking about kissing Remus. Feeling those plump, gorgeous lips against his own, working his fingers through that beautiful hair, pressing their bodies together._

_He wasn’t sure whether that was entirely a normal thing to think about. But he certainly knew he couldn’t help it. Remus was simply breathtaking._

_Sirius sighed, bringing himself back to the letter he was writing._

_—_

_Sirius didn’t know it, but Remus had been having similar feelings._ _Remus was currently pacing in his room and thinking of Sirius._

_He wasn’t sure how normal these feelings were either. He’d certainly met princesses he enjoyed being around, but…not quite like this. Being near Sirius filled Remus with electricity._

_Remus sighed and let himself walk across the palace to Sirius’ room. He might as well see the person he was obsessing over in person while his mind was on the subject._

_The door to Sirius’ room was open, so Remus slipped inside. Sirius was writing a letter with his back turned to Remus._

_“Sirius.” He said, announcing himself. Sirius immediately turned, clearly trying to cover the letter up with his body._

_“Remus.”_

_“Who are you writing to?” Remus asked, suddenly curious._

_“My brother. You don’t need to see it.” Sirius said, trying to make light of it._

_“Why are you being so defensive?” Remus tried to approach him, but Sirius stood up at once, taking the letter with him._

_“No reason.”_

_Remus managed to grab the letter from Sirius’ grasp and quickly scanned it._

_‘Prince Remus…the policy decision…an opportunity for us…invasion…’_

_Remus stared at Sirius with a sudden fury. “How could you? How could you? You’re telling them all our secrets! How could you…”_

_He stormed out without giving Sirius a chance to rebut._

“You idiot!” Remus exclaimed. “How could you sell us out like that? See if I kiss you now!”

Sirius laughed, leading Remus to laughter too.

“Just keep listening, love.” Sirius said.

_—_

_Remus had not left his room for a week._

_He could’ve gotten a lot done in that distraction-free time. But he had accomplished pretty much nothing._

_His thoughts were occupied with Sirius and his betrayal. Could it have been a misunderstanding? Remus had suggested Sirius be a voice on the inside for Seren, but not like this. He’d thought they were on the same side. He’d thought they were…friends._

_His mother knew better than to ask what was wrong, and his father was too busy to ask. So Remus sat in his room for days on end, waiting for his mind to recover from the betrayal._

_Until his mother knocked on his door. He answered it and she presented him with a letter._

_It was from Sirius and addressed to him._

_“You should open it.” His mother encouraged._

_Remus sat down on the bed and opened it. Inside was another letter—this one addressed to Sirius from Regulus Black, his brother. He opened that one too and a note fell out._

_‘Sirius,’ it read, ‘enclosed is your last letter to me as requested. Please do write soon. Mother is getting rather aggravated, and it worsens each day that passes without word from you._

_Write soon,_

_Regulus'_

_Remus turned his attention to the letter, which read:_

_‘Regulus,_

_Much has happened here. Prince Remus and I have been discussing the merits of ducks in the kingdom. You see, mother has always been frustrated with the presence of ducks. But, you see, their offspring are simply delightful. Please do tell mother to observe what they call a duckling as soon as she can._

_In other, more pressing news, Neoma has been investing heavily in the harpsichord. Perhaps mother ought to look into it._

_There is also this newfangled device known as a ‘fredrit’. I have not been able to decipher what it is. Please beg mother to research this for us. I think it minces fruit._

_All my best,_

_Sirius’_

_Remus’ heart sunk and soared all at the same time._

_“He’s feeding fake information to them to keep Walburga occupied.” He said aloud._

_“Well, that’s good.” His mother said, starling Remus. He’d forgotten she was there._

_“Mother! Where is Sirius? Do you know?”_

_“I expect he’s in his room, as he’s been there all week. Please tell me you’re going to apologize.”_

_“Yes! Don’t worry, mother. I’m fine now. More than fine.” Remus all but ran down the halls, bursting into Sirius’ room._

_“I’m so sorry. I got your letter. You were trying to protect us all by distracting her, not try to get her to invade.”_

_“I was asking whether my mother had determined if the goose invasion would be allowed or fought against. I’m sorry too, Remus. I should’ve told you, but I worried you would take offense.”_

_“I shouldn’t have taken offense. I should have listened. I’m sorry, Sirius.”_

_They looked into one another’s eyes, neither quite knowing what they ought to say next._

_Until, suddenly, both knew that what they had to say could not be put into words anyway._

_They rushed toward one another, meeting in a kiss._

Sirius kissed Remus deeply, leaning into him. It felt as if lightning was flowing between them.

“It felt like that.” Sirius said simply. All Remus could do was smile broadly.

_They separated after what felt like forever and no time at all. They looked into one another’s eyes once more. Silence held them there for a moment._

_And then they kissed again—_

Sirius and Remus kissed once more, but this time both inserted depth into the kiss.

“Like that.” Sirius said again, breathing a laugh. Remus actually laughed and his peals of laughter lit up Sirius’ face.

_“That was—“ Sirius said at last. Remus nodded._

_“I am never marrying a princess. Nothing could ever be as good as that was.” Remus said._

_“Agreed.” Sirius said before he dragged Remus over to the bed, pulling him back in for another kiss._

“That’s sweet.” Remus said. “What a sweet story, Sirius.”

“Not over yet!”

_—_

_Prince Remus kept his word. He never did marry a princess. Remus and Sirius lived together for many years._

_Eventually, Sirius’ parents died and he was asked to rule. But, of course, he couldn’t leave Remus, so he gave the throne to Regulus. Regulus turned out to be a fair and just ruler, although he never could quite understand why Sirius didn’t rule._

_Remus’ parents too eventually died and he became king of Neoma. But he did not rule alone._

_Although Remus and Sirius could never be official co-rulers, they were as good as married. Sirius was Remus’ number one advisor and was consulted on every single policy issue. He even had a chair next to Remus’ throne._

_Sirius had a room in the palace, but he rarely spent time there. He slept in Remus’ room._

_It was as close as they were going to get and that was perfectly fine._

_The issue of a heir sometimes crept into Remus’ mind. Usually when an advisor not-so-subtly suggested marriage, which was always met with an icy gaze from Remus._

_But one day word came from a distant cousin. Remus’ second cousins had died in a terrible accident and there was nowhere for their young child to go. His name was Harry._

_Remus had an heir to placate his advisors and they all had a family. Win-win-win._

_And they all lived happily ever after._


End file.
